VBM in the Magic Kingdom

VBM in the Magic Kingdom

I enter a Disney set with fairy tale castles dotting the lakeside.

Are there lost princesses hidden within the pastel walls?

Or rare Democrats seeking sanctuary?

Time will tell as I set out on my expedition.

Fully armed with clipboard, VBM forms, and black pens,

I knock boldly on the sturdy castle doors.

Twice, the Lady of the castle, faithful canine companion in tow,

Responds to my entreaties and pledges to vote by mail.

Surreal evening journey reflects surreal story of the contest

To be crowned Leader of the Free World.

Jousting is fierce and without time-honored rules of decorum. 

Chivalry is dead.

Marching through the kingdom and surrounding fiefdoms,

I focus on the task at hand, keeping at bay thoughts of cataclysm.

I block out the 24/7 cacophony of pundits and partisans,

Foretelling a future based on an unimaginable present.

I am a mere vassal, boots on the ground.

I leave strategy to the wise ensconced at campaign headquarters.

I desperately hope they will come up with a winning plan.

For tonight, I will knock on doors in the Magic Kingdom. 

Supreme Court and Voting Rights

In June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the heart of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. As a result of the decision, states and counties with a history of making it harder for racial minorities to vote no longer need prior approval from the Federal government to change election laws. The decision set off a wave of voting restrictions and voting roll purges in many states, including Florida. 

On Monday, the Court unanimously rejected a challenge that would have required the counting of only eligible voters in drawing election districts. This was a victory for voting rights and fair representation. I was holding my breath about this case, but we dodged this bullet (a suit brought by Texans) for the moment.

Human Rorschach Test

I made a vow months ago to avoid reading news articles about Donald Trump. I have been breaking that vow at an accelerating pace. How could I help it? I have not broken off all contact with the outside world. 

An Op Ed column in today's New York Times caught my eye. Its message was that working class whites who bore the brunt of the Iraq war were attracted by Trump's antiwar appeal. Since Trump seems to say anything that comes into his mind at the moment, people can find almost any message that appeals to them. Trump is a human Rorschach Test.

What do I see when I look at Trump? A carnival sideshow barker. "Step right up, folks. Inside this tent you will find wonders to delight you, no matter how dark your dreams and desires."

Zootopia

Zootopia is a great metropolis where predators and prey live in harmony. And the lion shall lie down with the lamb. Think "utopia". The movie tackles racism, sexism, stereotyping, profiling and affirmative action. Wow!  And this is a Disney movie. 

The plot is driven by the mystery of why some predators are suddenly reverting to, shall we say, predatory ways. Our grrl power heroine is a rookie rabbit cop who made it onto the force under a brand new affirmative action program. She teams up with an unlikely partner, a con artist fox, to solve the mystery, capture the criminals, and restore peace and harmony to the land. 

If you think this is all too serious, remember it is still a Disney animated feature. The funniest segments are clearly aimed at the adults providing transportation and popcorn for the younger audience members. With all due respect to Tax Collector Randolph (who delivered my registration renewal after a few quick clicks online), the loudest laughs came during a scene in the DMV, where all the employees were giant sloths. There was also a great take-off on The Godfather.

So why am I doing a movie review on a blog about the 2016 election cycle? Much to my surprise, the positive, inclusive message of the movie inspired me to work harder to keep the predators from completely taking over the country. Of course, I don't think we are going to create utopia. (I was never young and idealistic.) I do believe we need to continue moving toward a more inclusive, equitable society. That means working hard to elect progressive Democrats at every level of government this year, and especially keeping the White House Blue.

Direction of Time

They raise their right arms

in salute to their new leader.

Previously undetected, the fast moving body

roils the cosmos.

The fabric of space-time twists and folds

in disconcerting ways.

Does time travel in two directions?

Images of brown shirts flicker

on the screen of my mind.

Life's Lessons and Politics

I'm going to the opening of Hillary Clinton's Central Florida office this evening. When I wrote earlier that I was now supporting Hillary, I talked about acknowledging my own baggage and identifying more with her than I had been willing to admit.

As I read about the negative reaction of some younger women to Hillary and feminism, I wonder if their response derives, in part, from the fact that they haven't lived long enough to accumulate much baggage themselves. Life is messy. Compromise, injudicious decisions, real mistakes are the stuff of life. But try telling that to a twenty-something year old. I know I wouldn't have listened when I was that age. 

Wewahootee Road

Wewahootee Road

Spirits of Native American warriors run on the hidden trail.

I was out chasing Democrats who Vote By Mail.

Dark was falling; the road ahead unclear.

The sign on the side of the road said I had a lot to fear.

“You’re on your own beyond this boundary.”

That was the warning from Orange County.

I steered slowly around potholes bigger than my Civic.

To some less committed, I might look heroic.

If I go missing, my F.O., Bryan, knows the plan. 

Point the searchers to the last turf I cut on VAN.

Re-entering paved roadway and seeing homes clustered,

I searched for my targets, trying not to feel flustered.

Voter Guides, cards for Charlie and George at the ready,

Checking my map, I kept my hands on the wheel steady.

Reading house numbers in the dark strains my sight,

But I struggle on with the help of an occasional light.

One strong supporter brightens my night.

She’s fired up and ready to join our fight.

Heading for home, I hear ghost warriors chanting of the beauty

That once graced the hidden trail named Wewahootee.

Inside Baseball

As I watched MSNBC with friends last week, I was struck by how removed the discussion was from the daily lives and concerns of most of the Democratic voters we will need to engage to win in November 2016. It was definitely Inside Baseball - so caught up in the minutia of the subject that most people will be perplexed. 

This is not a general slam against baseball, which has been an important part of my life and relationships. I have learned crucial life lessons from the game, which I will keep in mind for the trials and tribulations of the 2016 campaigns.

Be Resilient: Even the best players strike out or are thrown out more often than they get on base.

Be Patient: The best hitters don't swing at every pitch.

Have Fun: The best players always keep the joy in the game.

Warding Off the Evil Eye

Last evening I attended the annual fundraising dinner of the Women's Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. I was the interim executive director of JFGO for 13 months in 2008-09. 

One of the speakers told us of a program for at-risk teenagers in Israel. We each received a hamsah made by the girls. A hamsah (Hebrew) is a palm-shaped amulet popular in the Middle East and North Africa as a defense against the evil eye. A few minutes later I learned that Donald Trump had won the Republican primary in New Hampshire. I will be keeping my hamsah with me at all times!

David Brooks Writes a Love Letter to Barack Obama

David Brooks, Republican, self-declared conservative, tells why he will miss Barack Obama in today's column in the New York Times. You are not alone, David. 

I'm With Hillary

It would probably take years of Freudian analysis to unravel why I have waited this long to declare my support for Hillary Rodham Clinton for President in 2016. Maybe I don't want to acknowledge how much alike we are so I don't have to own up to the baggage in my life. She certainly has more baggage, but she has been in the spotlight so much more. 

Whatever my hang-ups, I will vote for her in the Florida Presidential Primary next month, and I will work hard in support of her election. The way I see it, our basic values overlap almost perfectly. Has she made choices that I would not have made? Maybe I have played it too safe. 

Is she a pragmatist? That is essential for getting things done in today's world. She has learned a lot since her healthcare reform fiasco when Bill was President. 

One thing is certain: she can take a lot of punishment and come up ready for the next fight. 

And The Title Goes To...

This is a perverse matchup between two States

With the title going to the one that fails its citizens the most.

In one corner, Florida – Miami’s pulsing Latin beat,

Panhandle”s Old South slant, end pieces to

The Land of the Mouse, oscillating

Between Democrat and Republican allegiance.

In the other corner, Arizona – unmatched scenic beauty,

Jazz-infused sanctuary city Tucson,

Rouge County sheriff on a mission, and

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly unbowed. 

The judges are two displaced NE liberals,

Who spiraled through space-time

To begin the next phase of their lives

In these strange and unsettling lands.

Round 1: Here’s To Your Good Health

The fight is over the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare

To help millions of low-income people with health care

That can reduce suffering and save their lives.

But States can opt out of the program.

FL quickly knocks AZ to the mat with its annual refusal

To take the Federal dollars despite beleaguered hospital pleas.

AZ’s Republic Governor puts people before politics

And brings more than a million people into the system.

Round 2: Cruel and Unusual

With 92 executions since 1976, FL easily outpunches

AZ with a total of 37.

Texas remains unchallenged in the Heavy Weight class,

Weighing in with 531.

Round 3: Sun Packs a Punch

AZ is ranked in the top 10 states

For harnessing the power of the Sun.

With investor-owned utilities laying out the fight strategy,

FL, the Sunshine State, lags behind without a trace of irony.

And the title goes to FL – Worse State.

Arms raised in triumph, FL prances around the ring

As lobbyists and power brokers cheer in the arena.

Ordinary citizens watch on monitors

Out in the cold.

Is Lake Nona Blue?

I moved to Lake Nona 8 years ago because my older nephew had bought a home in the area, and the rest of the family was living close by. There wasn't much going on in the neighborhood. Medical City was still more a concept than a reality. Now the VA Hospital has opened along with UCF Medical School, Sanford Burnham Research Center and Nemours Hospital for Children. There is a new hotel to accommodate visitors to the various facilities. 

There is also a great deal of residential building - new apartment complexes and single family  homes. My mission is to seek out potential Democratic voters to get them registered and signed up to Vote By Mail. In 2012, working with the Obama campaign, I set up voter registration opportunities at the major apartment complexes. I will try to re-visit the older complexes and to introduce myself to the new ones over the next few months. 

There were more Democrats in Lake Nona in 2012 than many people thought. What will we find in 2016? Will Lake Nona be Blue?

Are We Stupid About the Economy?

"It's the economy, stupid" has its origins in the messaging strategy of James Carville for Bill Clinton's successful 1992 Presidential campaign. I work on not being stupid by reading Paul Krugman each Monday and Friday in the NY Times. Click here for today's piece on job creation. Most of the voters we will need on our side in November probably don't. How will the Democratic party talk about the economy, Wall Street, and income inequality to them? Is there a James Carville for today's political environment? I sure hope so.

My One New Year's Resolution

I made only one New Year's resolution: to try to hold on to what little sanity I still have. This goal is particularly challenging when I think about the Republican Presidential candidates. (The heavily armed men taking over Federal property that belongs to me and my fellow citizens come in a close second.)

My tactic is to take off my partisan campaign buttons and to put on the white coat of a scientist. For about 12 years I have been using the Myers-Briggs personality assessment in my executive coaching practice. It works. There are 16 personality types; I try to keep in mind that people are different. My type is shared by only 2-3 percent of the American population. So what I think is not representative of most of the population. (Key word here is "think" - my primary response. For most people, "feel" is the first reaction.) 

I then bring to bear Emotional Intelligence (EQ), in particular social awareness or empathy. How can I understand what is truly motivating the radical right who are keeping Ted Cruz and Donald Trump at the top of the polls? Today's test was keeping my composure while reading Frank Bruni's column in the NY Times. Click here to see how well you do. Are you ready for the scientist's white coat or for a straight jacket? I'm doing the best I can to keep my resolution.

Show Me the Money!

• The Koch brothers, through their various PAC's,  have pledged to spend $900 million in support of conservative candidates and causes through the 2016 election cycle.
• Planned Parenthood has endorsed Hillary Clinton, the first time it has backed a candidate during the primaries. At least $20 million is available to back that endorsement.
• A long-time political activist reached out to the Clinton campaign to ask how to help. The response: Donate $70 now.

Except in the early primary states, there doesn't seem much of a ground game (my specialty) to write about. It's all about the  money. Show me the money!

Canvassing

Canvassing

Guard dogs, killer ants.
Next time I'll wear longer pants.

No one's home.
No one cares.
Unsigned petitions spell despair.

Then a smile, a warm hello.
Sure, I'll sign; my husband, too.

That human connection makes my day.
I'll be out again next Saturday!

Voting Against Your Interests

On Wednesdays, I look for articles by Eduardo Porter in the NY Times Business Section. He definitely has a progressive view as he writes about income inequality and other economic issues of our day. Yesterday's article was more political, about the rise of racial identity and hostilities in this country as evoked by the 2016 Presidential primary debates. Check it out.

Inside Baseball

Yesterday, President Obama's emotional address on gun control shared space with the tortuous fight on redistricting in Florida. The former engaged people emotionally on both sides of the argument. For the most part, redistricting is inside baseball, followed by politicians, interest groups, and partisan activists. 

Yet, they are both vital parts of the same democratic process. Each has consequences for the other. When I did phone banking for the re-election campaign of Suzanne Kosmas in 2010, so many of the Democratic voters I talked to told me they were not going to vote. They were disappointed that President Obama had not fixed the economic crisis, that they were still suffering. It was an emotional response. The result in Florida was that the Republicans were able to create redistricting maps that suited the special interests they represent. Low turnout by Democrats in many states also produced Republican-controlled governors' mansions, state legislatures, and, of course, the U.S. House of Representatives.

How do we move beyond our focus on inside baseball issues to fire up Democratic and progressive independent voters for 2016? 

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Here are a few of the existential threats I'm thinking about at the start of the new year.

• AI (Artificial Intelligence): Will deep-learning computers and other forms of AI become so smart that humans are rendered obsolete? And what exactly is transhumanism?
• Islamic Jihadism: Entire school systems are closed by a single email. People eye their neighbors with renewed suspicion. Close the borders! Close the mosques! Close our minds to any hint of rational thinking!
• Global Warming: Yes, I know the Northeast had one of its coldest, snowiest winters ever this year. But now it is really warm. And the oceans are rising. What about the beleaguered reefs off Australia?
• Ebola and Other Pandemics: Everyone likes a good movie about killer germs. Will the people against childhood vaccinations change their minds?
• Republican Candidates for President: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Th!nk Prec!nct!

Sure, strategy  is important, and I truly hope the Democrats come up with a winning one. Money is really important, too. Not just for TV ads. We have to pay the rent on local campaign offices, hire organizers and buy all those yard signs.

But we need more, as I learned in 2012. On the wall in my computer alcove is a slip of paper I cut from a guide prepared by Th!nk Prec!nct. The title of the guide is The Grassroots Organizing Guide for a Progressive America. The mantra I embrace is "Because the side with the most votes wins."

When I started as a neighbor team leader for the Obama campaign in January 2012, I took it on faith that the phone banks and canvasses would bring results. I had never worked at the grassroots level before and had no first-hand experience of these campaign tools.

The day after President Obama's re-election, I was in a daze - exhausted from the many months of campaigning and not quite sure that the victory was real, not a mirage projected by my stressed-out brain. 

Mid-morning, I left my apartment to get my mail and bumped into Roberto, the junior member of the complex's maintenance team. I had helped Roberto register in Florida after relocating from New York and given him information about the candidates, issues, and voting schedule. Roberto told me that he and his mother had waited in line for 6 hours on election day before casting their votes for President Obama. 

In my already emotional state, I teared up and kept repeating "Oh Roberto, thank you. Thank your mother. That is so wonderful!" Roberto looked at me quizzically. Why was this woman getting so worked up? Then it happened. He looked me in the eye and said calmly: "I told you I would vote." I became a believer. When we connect with people one-on-one, we can make a difference.

Th!nk Prec!nt!

Step #1: Register Voters

Democracy

Out of my comfort zone,
into the fray.
Registering voters
any time of the day.

Step right up!
Lots of forms at the station.
Democrat, Republican or
No Party Affiliation.

Take this chance
to have your say.
Don't let our democracy
go astray.

Is Fear the Only Message?

Here is a sample of subject lines on recent emails from Democratic candidates and organizations:

• Giving up
• Under Attack (voting rights)
• "President Trump"
• Obamacare GUTTED
• A dangerous trend
• Serious consequences 
• EILEEN, we're about to panic

I treated myself to a Michael McDonald compilation CD for Hanukkah. These lyrics keep running through my mind:

                 Some say the road is clear.

                 Some say the end is here.

I'm not a Pollyanna. I know there are landmines, huge sinkholes and scary monsters behind every tree on the road to November 2016 and beyond. I will travel that road, but I would like a little positive inspiration. Fear doesn't do it for me.

Ground Game 2016

I'm getting back in the game. Well, sort of. At this point in 2012, I was an Obama neighborhood team leader, a precinct woman and a Ruth's List Florida advisory council member. Today, I am a registered Democrat; that's the only political affiliation I can claim.

I will make it up as I go along, drawing on the tested lessons of my five secrets of success:

1. Showing Up. Following the teachings of that great American philosopher Woody Allen, I believe that at least 80 percent of success in life is showing up. I will show up at political events; reach out to candidates and Democratic Party staff; and take the initiative where I can.
2. Low Expectations. "The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it." V. S. Naipaul. I try to begin with a realistic view of the present situation - not what I want it to be but what it is.
3. High Threshold of Pain. I can take a lot of punishment.
4. Resilience and Resourcefulness. Flanking maneuvers are my specialty. If a direct assault is not working, I look for a way around the obstacle. "The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result." Albert Einstein.
5. Treating Everyone the Same. With respect. This is not only the right thing to do from a moral perspective, but also the best way to build allies and loyal teams needed to get the job done. 

Let the games begin!